A clergyman, travelling through the village of Kettle, in Fifeshire, was called into an inn to officiate at a marriage, instead of the parish minister, who, from some accident, was unable to attend, and had caused the company to wait for a considerable time. While the reverend gentleman was pronouncing the admonition, and just as he had told the bridegroom to love and honour his wife, the said bridegroom interjected the words, “and obey,” which he thought had been omitted from oversight, though that is part of the rule laid down solely to the wife. The minister, surprised to find a husband willing to be henpecked by anticipation, did not take advantage of the proposed amendment; on which the bridegroom again reminded him of the omission. “Ay, and obey, sir—love, honour, and obey, ye ken!” and he seemed seriously discomposed at finding that his hint was not taken. Some years after the same clergyman was riding through the village, when the same man came out and stopped him, addressing him in the following remarkable words: “D’ye mind, sir, yon day, when ye married me, and when I wad insist upon vowing to obey my wife? Weel, ye may now see that I was in the richt. Whether ye wad or no, I hae obeyed my wife; and behold, I am now the only man that has a twa-storey house in the hale toun!” A NATURAL EXPLANATION.—The greater longevity of women as compared with men appears to be well borne out by the statistics of every country that has yet been examined. This shows that, after all, it is not bright dresses, heavy skirts, and thin shoes that kill. It is the paying for them that does it. MUSICAL PERFORMERS.—“Three things,” said Mozart, “are necessary for a good performer”; and he pointed significantly to his head, to his heart, and to the tips of his fingers, as symbolical of understanding, sympathy, and technical readiness. ENCOURAGEMENT. The maid whose manners are retired, Who, patient, waits to be admired, Though overlooked, perhaps, awhile Her modest worth, her modest smile, Oh, she will find, or soon or late, A noble, fond, and faithful mate. A COMFORTING THOUGHT.—When any calamity has been suffered, the first thing to be remembered is how much has been escaped.—_Dr. Johnson._ A GIPSY TRICK. The feat known by the gipsies as “the great secret,” is performed by inducing some woman of largely magnified faith—say some decent farmer’s wife—to believe that there is hidden in the house a magic treasure, which can only be made to come to hand by depositing in the cellar another treasure, to which it will come by natural affinity or attraction.